Budget Rollout May Be Delayed

Andrew Garber reports that the Senate may not release its budget this week.

Sen. Rodney Tom, vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, told me a few minutes ago that he was pretty certain the budgets would not come out this week.

However, House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler said she felt both sides were very close to an agreement and it's still possible for the budgets to be released this week.

The two chambers have been working together this year, with the House budget expected to come out a day after the Senate release. As Garber writes, by agreeing on the major cuts Democratic leaders hoped to reduce divide-and-conquer strategies from affected interest groups.

If their plans include a tax vote, Joe Turner reports time is running out.

David Ammons, spokesman for Secretary of State Sam Reed just told me the Legislature would have to decide by "early to mid-April" if it wants to put something on the June 30 ballot. (That's a Tuesday, by the way.) And they'd have to act quicker if they want a vote earlier in June.

I called Ammons because I got word that county auditors -- the local elections folks -- were being alerted to a possible special election in June.

A June vote is important if the new taxes are tied to education. The public schools put together their budgets early. August is tough. November is too late.

They should just shelve the tax hike question altogether. Don Brunell points out the budget can be balanced without new revenues.

Now is not the time to burden taxpayers with another layer of costly government programs. And this is not a problem outside our reach. We should be prioritizing within the state budget based on the income available, just as Main Street does with its books every day.

I also took a stab at putting the budget in context in this morning's TNT.